Shipping and display container

ABSTRACT

A shipping and display container includes a top box installable over a bottom box. The bottom box is configured to receive goods provided in the bottom box in an upright and folded orientation and includes a pair of opposed sidewalls and at least one elongate divider affixed to the bottom box and extending between the opposed sidewalls and configured so as to maintain the goods in the upright and folded orientation. The top box is installable upon the bottom box with the goods received therein in the upright and folded orientation for shipping of the goods and is removable from the bottom box after shipping. The bottom box and the divider cooperate to maintain the goods in the upright and folded orientation for display thereof after removal of the top box.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No.62/661,774 filed Apr. 24, 2018, entitled SHIPPING AND DISPLAY CONTAINER,US Design Application No. 29/645,159 filed Apr. 24, 2018, entitledSHIPPING AND DISPLAY CONTAINER, Chinese utility model application SerialNo. 2018206673070 filed on May 4, 2018, entitled SHIPPING AND DISPLAYCONTAINER, and Chinese Design application Serial No. 2018301978824 filedon May 4, 2018, entitled SHIPPING AND DISPLAY CONTAINER, eachincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD

This disclosure relates to the field of shipping and display containers.More particularly, this disclosure relates to a shipping and displaycontainers of improved function and simplified construction, andparticularly configured for use with furniture items such as foldingchairs.

BACKGROUND

Improvement is desired in regards to containers for shipping furnituresuch as folding chairs. In particular, what is desired is a shippingcontainer that is also suitable for display of the items shipped in thecontainer.

Conventionally, goods such as folding chairs are packed into a bottombox and the bottom box is covered with a top box secured by strapping orthe like for shipping. The chairs are tightly packed in the bottom boxand packaging foam or the like is located between the chairs.

Once delivered, the top box and the packaging foam are removed and thebottom box with the chairs is located at a store for display and sale.As chairs are sold, space develops between chairs in the bottom box.Often, chairs will fall over, become unfolded, and otherwise result in acumbersome and unattractive display of the chairs. For example, somechairs may fall over and be difficult for a customer to see and select.Other chairs may lean and detract from the display.

Thus, what is desired is a shipping and display container that isconfigured to maintain the goods such as folding chairs in an uprightand folded orientation as the goods are sold and avoid shortcomings ofconventional containers.

SUMMARY

The above and other needs are met by a shipping and display container.

In one aspect, the shipping and display container includes a bottom boxconfigured to receive foldable goods in an upright and foldedorientation. The bottom box has a pair of opposed sidewalls, and atleast one elongate divider affixed to the bottom box and extendingbetween the opposed sidewalls and configured so as to enable to maintainthe goods in the upright and folded orientation.

A top box is installable upon the bottom box with the goods receivedtherein in the upright and folded orientation for shipping of the goods,the top box removable from the bottom box after shipping. The bottom boxand the divider cooperate to maintain the goods in the upright andfolded orientation for display thereof after removal of the top box.

In another aspect, a shipping and display container includes a bottomrectangular box configured to receive folding chairs in an upright andfolded orientation. The bottom box has a pair of opposed sidewalls, anda plurality of uniformly spaced apart elongate elastic dividers affixedto the bottom box and extending substantially parallel to one anotherbetween upper portions of the opposed sidewalls and configured so as tomaintain the chairs in the upright and folded orientation.

A top box is installable upon the bottom box with the chairs receivedtherein in the upright and folded orientation for shipping of thechairs, the top box removable from the bottom box after shipping. Thebottom box and the elongate elastic dividers cooperate to maintain thechairs in the upright and folded orientation for display thereof afterremoval of the top box.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further advantages of the disclosure are apparent by reference to thedetailed description when considered in conjunction with the figures,which are not to scale so as to more clearly show the details, whereinlike reference numbers indicate like elements throughout the severalviews, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a shipping and display containeraccording to the disclosure having a plurality of interior elasticdivider straps.

FIGS. 2 and 3 show a blank for forming the container.

FIG. 4 is a closeup view of an exterior portion of the container of FIG.1, showing an attachment point for an elastic divider strap to thecontainer.

FIGS. 5-7 show the container of FIG. 1 containing chairs.

FIG. 8 shows the container of FIG. 1 with an additional top componentand secured for shipping of the container loaded with chairs.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

With initial reference to FIG. 1, there are shown a shipping and displaycontainer 10 according to the disclosure. The container 10 is shownherein configured for shipping and displaying folding chairs. It will beunderstood that the container 10 may be configured to ship and displayother goods such as tables, benches, and other items having irregularshapes or otherwise configured so that they do not stand in an uprightorientation without support.

The container 10 may be provided by a paperboard or like box 12 having agenerally rectangular configuration with opposed sidewalls 14 a and 14 band opposed end walls 16 a and 16 b. The container 10 includes aplurality of spaced apart elongate dividers 18 affixed between thesidewalls 14 a and 14 b. The elongate dividers 18 are desirably providedby elastic straps that are supported by and extend between the sidewalls14 a and 14 b. The elongate dividers 18 may be supported by thesidewalls 14 a and 14 b in various ways.

In one example, ends 18 a of the elongate dividers 18 are provided byplastic rods formed at the ends of the elongate dividers 18 to extendperpendicular to the length of the dividers 18. The ends 18 a may bepassed through apertures 20 formed through the sidewalls 14 a and 14 band corresponding plastic mounts 22 located on the exterior and/orinterior of the sidewalls 14 a and 14 b. The mounts 22 are optional butdesirable to reinforce the portion of the sidewalls at the apertures 20.In this regard, the mounts 22, and hence the dividers 18, are preferablyadjacent an upper end of the sidewalls 14 a and 14 b.

As shown in FIG. 5, the box 12 is configured to receive goods, such asfolding chairs 30 in an upright, folded orientation. The chairs 30 arestacked in the box 12 and the dividers 18 extend between certainadjacent ones of the chairs 30. The purpose of the dividers 18 is tomaintain the chairs 30 in a generally upright orientation while ondisplay at a store or the like, even though some of the chairs 30 havebeen sold and the box 12 is not longer substantially full of the chairs30. The box 12 is shown with only four (4) of the chairs 30 forsimplicity. As described below, the depicted box 12 is configured toinitially hold about twenty-three (23) or twenty-four (24) of the chairs30.

It will be appreciated that absent the presence of the dividers 18, whenthe box 12 loses chairs 30 from the selling of chairs, the remainingchairs 30 are difficult to maintain in an upright orientation that isattractive for display. While any number of the dividers 18 may beprovided, it has been observed that a preferred number of the dividers18 is preferably about one-eighth the number of chairs. For example, forthe box 12 configured to tightly pack twenty-three (23) or twenty-four(24) of the chairs, use of three (3) of the dividers 18 is preferred.

It will be understood that the dividers 18 will be located parallel tothe end walls 16 a and 16 b, since the end walls serve to support thechairs 30 in the upright position. Thus, when packing the box 12, six ofthe chairs will be between the end wall 16 a and the adjacent divider18, then six of the chairs will be between this divider 18 and the nextadjacent divider 18, then six chairs will be between this divider 18 andthe end wall 16 b. The thus loaded box 12 is then ready to be completedfor shipping. For example, a top box 40 may be applied over the box 12,which serves as a bottom, and strapping 42 applied to secure forshipping (FIG. 8). The use of elastic straps or other elastic materialfor the dividers 18 is advantageous in this regard, as the elasticenables the dividers 18 to move or flex during shipment so as to avoidbeing broken or damaged or the like from load shifting or the likeduring shipping. As previously noted, only four of the chairs 30 areshown in the box 12, it being understood that the depicted box 12 isinitially loaded with preferably about twenty-three (23) or twenty-four(24) of the chairs 30.

The thus loaded and secured container may then be shipped to a retaillocation for sale of the chairs. At this time, the box 12 may be placedon the sales floor of the retail location and the strapping 42 and topbox 40 removed and disposed of. The box 12 serves as a suitable displayfor the chairs 30. Then, as chairs are sold, the dividers 18 serve tomaintain the remaining chairs in an attractive, upright orientation, andcustomers do not have to bend over the box to pick up or select a chairthat has fallen to the bottom of the box. The elastic nature of thedividers 18 is also desirable during display, as the flexible nature ofthe dividers 18 enables the divider to avoid damage such as when acustomer may shift chairs during selection of a chair and cause one ormore of the remaining chairs to fall on the divider.

The foregoing description of preferred embodiments for this disclosurehas been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It isnot intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure to the preciseform disclosed. Obvious modifications or variations are possible inlight of the above teachings. The embodiments are chosen and describedin an effort to provide the best illustrations of the principles of thedisclosure and its practical application, and to thereby enable one ofordinary skill in the art to utilize the disclosure in variousembodiments and with various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated. All such modifications and variations arewithin the scope of the disclosure as determined by the appended claimswhen interpreted in accordance with the breadth to which they arefairly, legally, and equitably entitled.

1. (canceled)
 2. The shipping and display container according to claim13, wherein the at least one elongate divider comprises a plurality ofdividers, each divider comprising an elastic strap.
 3. The shipping anddisplay container according to claim 13, further comprising a mount oneach of the opposed sidewalls for connecting the at least one elongatedivider to the opposed sidewalls.
 4. The shipping and display containeraccording to claim 3, wherein the mounts are located on an exterior ofeach opposed sidewall.
 5. The shipping and display container accordingto claim 13, wherein the top box and the bottom box are eachrectangular.
 6. The shipping and display container according to claim13, wherein the opposed sidewalls each have an aperture through whichthe at least one elongate divider extends.
 7. The shipping and displaycontainer according to claim 6, wherein each aperture is locatedadjacent to an upper end of each of the opposed sidewalls.
 8. Theshipping and display container according to claim 6, wherein the atleast one elongate divider is cylindrical having a diameter, and theapertures of the opposed sidewalls each have a diameter that issubstantially the same as the diameter of the at least one elongatedivider.
 9. The shipping and display container according to claim 13,wherein the bottom box includes three dividers.
 10. (canceled)
 11. Theshipping and display container according to claim 13, wherein the atleast one elongate divider is parallel perpendicular to the firstsidewall and the second sidewall.
 12. (canceled)
 13. A shipping anddisplay container, comprising: a plurality of foldable goods in anupright and folded orientation; a bottom box configured to receive thefoldable goods in an upright and folded orientation with the goodsextending above an upper edge of the bottom box, the bottom box having:a pair of opposed sidewalls, and at least two elongate dividers affixedto the bottom box and extending between the opposed sidewalls andconfigured so as to enable the foldable goods received in the bottom boxto be stacked against one another in the upright folded orientation withuniform groups of the foldable goods located on both sides of each ofthe elongate dividers to maintain the goods in the upright and foldedorientation for shipping, and a top box installable upon the bottom boxwith the foldable goods received therein in the upright and foldedorientation for shipping of the foldable goods, the top box removablefrom the bottom box after shipping, wherein the bottom box and thedivider cooperate to maintain the foldable goods in the upright andfolded orientation for display thereof after removal of the top box, andenable removal of individual ones of the foldable goods from the bottombox and maintain remaining ones of the foldable goods in the bottom boxin the upright and folded orientation for display.
 14. The shipping anddisplay container of claim 13, wherein the foldable goods comprisechairs.
 15. The shipping and display container of claim 13, wherein thefoldable goods comprise tables.
 16. The shipping and display containerof claim 13, wherein the foldable goods comprise benches.